this post was submitted on 13 May 2024
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Political Memes

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[–] [email protected] 131 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) (11 children)

There was someone who worked in Washington who made a proposal that the nuclear launch codes should be printed on a little capsule that was surgically implanted inside a man who would travel around with the president, in kind of the same way that the briefcase or whatever-it-is travels around with him under the current system.

The deal was, if the president wanted to launch a nuclear strike, he had to take a big knife and kill the man to cut him open to get to the capsule. Kind of come to grips on an individual level with what he was dealing with, and what it meant on at least some level, instead of just pushing some buttons in an air conditioned office.

I don't think this was ever meant as a serious proposal. The person who invented it was just trying to make a point. But it did get relayed to at least one person who worked in the Pentagon who got very upset at the idea and started arguing against it. What if, he said, the president looks at what's in front of him and can't do it. That would be terrible.

[–] [email protected] 62 points 10 months ago (1 children)

What if, he said, the president looks at what's in front of him and can't do it. That would be terrible.

If the president can't kill one single man without a guilty conscience, he/she probably shouldn't be obliterating the entirety of our species.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 10 months ago (3 children)
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[–] [email protected] 20 points 10 months ago (3 children)

I get the idea, but what if the kill-guy fights back and at the last minute decides he doesn’t want to be a sacrificial lamb? I can imagine that as some sort of 70s tv series about a guy on the run from the government and a president who wants all-out war.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 10 months ago

I would unironically watch this show

[–] [email protected] 4 points 10 months ago

That's fine. But also the guy could be handcuffed to a secret service agent or something. It's not like there aren't a bunch of buff dudes around the president at all times. The purpose of the exercise would probably be enhanced if the guy didn't want to die.

[–] [email protected] 18 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago)

The deal was, if the president wanted to launch a nuclear strike, he had to take a big knife and kill the man to cut him open to get to the capsule.

There are too many Presidents in history who would have done that gleefully for me to believe it would function as a deterrent.

What if, he said, the president looks at what’s in front of him and can’t do it. That would be terrible.

I'm less worried about the President who hesitates than I am the President who doesn't.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 10 months ago (2 children)

This requirement is also the plot of the 2020 Hugo Award for Best Short Story, As the Last I May Know

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[–] [email protected] 71 points 10 months ago (5 children)

Errr yeah but it doesn't count as genocide, it only went over a small fraction of the people. It's not genocide until it's all of them! I am very smart.

/s

[–] [email protected] 28 points 10 months ago (1 children)

According to the trolley operator, one in three people tied to the tracks is Hamas.

Why would you sympathize with Hamas? They've been trying to blow that trolley up for years. If we don't run them over now, they'll just try to do it again.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 10 months ago

According to the trolley operator, some people in the front of the trolley might not be Hamas, but every single one behind is.

[–] [email protected] 18 points 10 months ago

My thought exactly. Instead of talking if it's right or wrong and if it should stop, be should focus on more important questions like is it genocide and is it antisemitic.

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[–] [email protected] 43 points 10 months ago (1 children)

This is about student loans, right?

[–] [email protected] 14 points 10 months ago (2 children)

I studied your mom's loans last night, if you know what I mean 😉

[–] [email protected] 25 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Loans aren't over in 20 seconds

[–] [email protected] 8 points 10 months ago (1 children)

That's what I, her financial adviser, tried to explain to her. She wouldn't listen to me though, as she was too preoccupied with hoeing it up 🤷

[–] [email protected] 4 points 10 months ago

That poor woman. Dumb and being kicked by Dumb.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 10 months ago

She’s a swamp donkey so it’s nice to see someone giving her some attention.

[–] [email protected] 31 points 10 months ago (3 children)

When will it be considered anti-Semitic to be Islamophobic?

[–] [email protected] 8 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) (2 children)

Jew is both a genealogical ethnicity and a religious designation. Islam is a different religion. So, never?

[–] [email protected] 17 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) (1 children)

Semite: “a member of any of a number of peoples of ancient southwestern Asia including the Akkadians, Phoenicians, Hebrews, and Arabs” So, how is it anti-semitic to be pro-palestine?

[–] [email protected] 23 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) (2 children)

Yes, that is the etymology. Queer no longer means odd, and literally now also means figuratively.

Antisemitism is the belief or behavior hostile toward Jews just because they are Jewish. It may take the form of religious teachings that proclaim the inferiority of Jews, for instance, or political efforts to isolate, oppress, or otherwise injure them. It may also include prejudiced or stereotyped views about Jews.

It is not antisemitic to be pro-Palestine if you ask anyone other than Netanyahu. I know many Jews that resent him for using that term in defense of his actions, and the actions of the IDF.

[–] [email protected] 13 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Queer no longer means odd

Yeah it does. It has additional meanings, but it also retains that one.

literally now also means figuratively.

Over my dead body! Just because an authority says something unacceptable is acceptable doesn't make it so. See also: the Israeli government committing genocide.

It is not antisemitic to be pro-Palestine

Correct.

if you ask anyone other than Netanyahu

Frustratingly, he's far from the only Zionist demagogue spreading that particular lie. It's become less effective recently, but it's been used to shut down any criticism of the apartheid regime for decades..

[–] [email protected] 4 points 10 months ago (11 children)

literally now also means figuratively.

Over my dead body! Just because an authority says something unacceptable is acceptable doesn't make it so. See also: the Israeli government committing genocide.

Maybe this isnt the right place to interject here: but yes, it now also means figuratively. Not because an authority said so, but because a sizable portion of native english speakers use it to mean figuratively. Thats how language works.

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[–] [email protected] 4 points 10 months ago (1 children)

So, arguable, anti-semitism is also bigotry toward Arabs, we just have to wait for the language to catch up, got it.

[–] [email protected] 12 points 10 months ago (1 children)

You have that reversed. Etymology is the study of the origin of words and the way in which their meanings have changed throughout history. The origin of Semite no longer applies to the word as it is used today.

The only reason it’s unique to Jews is because it’s both a form of racism and religious persecution. One can be genealogically an Ashkenazi Jew but not practice Judaism, or vice-versa.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 10 months ago (1 children)

You maybe missed the point that language evolved and eventually the definition may revert.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) (10 children)

It’s possible. Language evolves. You’re likely not going to get it to catch on with root awareness. That’s hardly how English has evolved for the last century.

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[–] [email protected] 4 points 10 months ago (2 children)

Final comment for ya (always happy to continue chatting in our deeper thread though - that was lovely).

A lot of people conflate Islam with Arab, nowadays (maybe you’ve heard of brown-folks be described as Islamics before, for example)

So, maybe someday?

if the dictionary ever updates Islam to mean also mean “a Muslim”.

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[–] [email protected] 4 points 10 months ago (3 children)

When there is peace and cooperation between Jews, Arabs,and Persians.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago)

That’s like saying that it will be stormy when there is lightning. Thanks.

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[–] [email protected] 19 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) (5 children)

Incredibly oversimplified.

Edit: I was going to add more detail to my comment and speak to both sides but why should I have to? The cartoon endeavors to simplify the most complex issue of the last fifty years, why should I have to add more context to a comment on one post, on a small community, on a small social network?

[–] [email protected] 58 points 10 months ago

That's the point of a political cartoon...

[–] [email protected] 53 points 10 months ago (1 children)

You're right, the IDF has slaughtered far far far more people than appear in the cartoon

[–] [email protected] 22 points 10 months ago

Not to mention that cartoon's lack of children.

A more realistic one would have at least 1/3 of the victims be children.

[–] [email protected] 36 points 10 months ago

Yeah they missed the part where the cop beats up the guy

[–] [email protected] 25 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Yeah. The person preventing the lever from being pulled is also screaming that the person who wants to pull it is a tankie and a trump supporter in addition to being antisemitic.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 10 months ago

Saying "Trump would be even worse" whilst stopping people from pulling the lever.

[–] [email protected] 16 points 10 months ago

Man... I hate when a meme fails to capture all the nuance of a situation and manages to tell a deeper truth at the same time.

[–] [email protected] 15 points 10 months ago

Oh, shit. This hits hard.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 10 months ago

most of these should be children to be more accurate.

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